Clean merge around the first curve. Pace slow. A jog now. Super jog. 400 in 68

15 starters on the line. Introductions about to start. The four non Africans are Alistair Cragg of Ireland, Matt Tegenkamp of the U.S., and a Spaniard Jesus Espana. There's another Spaniard who seems to have an Ethiopian-like name Bezabeh. Oh, and a Mexican, Barrios.

Kenyans on the start line get to hear their national anthem played for 800 winner Wilfrid Bungei. Maybe that will put some fire in their bellies. 5 minutes to go.

Race starts in about 10 minutes. It's high 80s in the stadium, humid, not a breath of wind. The guys will be plenty warm out there. The Kenyan press has said that they will, at last, "attack" in this race, with Thomas Longosiwa as the "sacrificial lamb," because he's a chump who has only run 12:51 for 5000. The problem is that Kenenisa Bekele has a team of three, too, including little brother Tariku, who won the world indoor championships over 3000 meters last March, and won a world junior 5000 title here in Beijing two years ago.

Brief Preview of Men's 5000-Meter Final. "Live" Updates To Follow at 8:10 a.m. Eastern TimeTwo Americans, Bernard Lagat and Matt Tegenkamp, qualified for the
final of the men's 5000, with only Ian Dobson failing to advance. Lagat
was a double gold medalist--1500 meters and 5000 meters--at last year's
Osaka World Championships, but failed to advance out of the 1500
semifinals here in Osaka, and may have a lingering Achilles tendon
injury. He has a 5000 PR of 12:59.22, but has not raced the distance
often. Tegenkamp finished fourth behind Lagat at Osaka, and has a PR of
13:04.90 from 2006.

The competition shapes up as a major showdown between three
Ethiopians--the brothers Kenenisa and Teriku Bekele, and Abreham
Cherkos--and three Kenyans, Eliud Kipchoge, Edwin Soi, and Thomas
Longosiwa. Kenenisa Bekele holds the world record, 12:37.35, and won
silver at Athens 04 behind the since-retired Hicham El Guerrouj.
Bekele, probably the greatest 5000-10,000 runner of all time, also won
Olympic gold in the 10,000 at Athens and now in Beijing as well. The
Kenyan trio have all run from 12:46 to 12:52.

The Kenyan champions of 15 and 20 years ago ran with wild abandonment,
launching mid-race surges that broke all rivals. In the last decade,
they have run more conservatively, and been beaten consistently by
fast-finishing Ethiopians like Haile Gebrselassie and Bekele. They did
the same in the 10,000 here and were beaten by Bekele and Sileshi
Sihine. It remains to be seen if the Kenyans will return to their
former, more successful tactics, which also make the competition much more exciting.

We will attempt to follow the race lap by lap, with split times and
leaders, but won't have a chance to produce deep coverage as we go.
We'll add that after the finish, and then bring you
full Results, a race summary, and--a bit later--quotes from the
American runners.

Semifinal in ReviewMatt Tegenkamp and Bernard Lagat won their heats to ensure their place in Saturday's final. The biggest name eliminated was Craig Mottram. One day after winning 1500m gold, Rashid Ramzi decided not to start.

First 4 in each heat, plus the next 3 fastest times qualify to the final.

Heat 1

1

Matthew Tegenkamp

USA

13:37.36 Q

2

Eliud Kipchoge

KEN

13:37.50 Q

3

Tariku Bekele

ETH

13:37.63 Q

4

Kidane Tadasse

ERI

13:37.72 Q

5

Aelemayehu Bezabeh

ESP

13:37.88 q

6

Alistair Ian Cragg

IRL

13:38.57 q

7

Juan Luis Barrios

MEX

13:42.39 q

8

Anis Selmouni

MAR

13:43.70

9

Aadam Ismaeel Khamis

BRN

13:44.76

10

Collis Birmingham

AUS

13:44.90

11

Geofrey Kusuro

UGA

13:50.50

12

Sultan Khamis Zaman

QAT

13:53.38

13

Takayuki Matsumiya

JPN

14:20.24

14

Soe Min Thu

MYA

15:50.56

Heat 2

1

Edwin Cheruiyot Soi

KEN

13:46.41 Q

2

Moses Kipsiro

UGA

13:46.58 Q

3

Abreham Cherkos

ETH

13:47.60 Q

4

Jesús España

ESP

13:48.88 Q

5

Ali Abdalla

ERI

13:49.68

6

Mohammed Farah

GBR

13:50.95

7

Adrian Blincoe

NZL

13:55.27

8

Mourad Marofit

MAR

14:00.76

9

Ian Dobson

USA

14:05.47

10

Tonny Wamulwa

ZAM

14:06.96

11

Kevin Sullivan

CAN

14:09.16

12

Ali Saïdi-Sief

ALG

14:15.00

13

Nader Almassri

PLE

14:41.10

.

Rashid Ramzi

BRN

DNS

Heat 3

1

Bernard Lagat

USA

13:39.70 Q

.

2

James Kwalia C'Kurui

QAT

13:39.96 Q

.

3

Kenenisa Bekele

ETH

13:40.13 Q

.

4

Thomas Pkemei Longosiwa

KEN

13:41.30 Q

.

5

Craig Mottram

AUS

13:44.39

.

6

Moukheld Al-Outaibi

KSA

13:47.00

.

7

Kensuke Takezawa

JPN

13:49.42

(SB)

8

Monder Rizki

BEL

13:54.41

.

9

Alberto García

ESP

13:58.20

.

10

Philippe Bandi

SUI

13:59.68

.

11

Abdelaziz Ennaji El Idrissi

MAR

14:05.30

.

12

Abdinasir Said Ibrahim

SOM

14:21.58

.

.

Selim Bayrak

TUR

DNS

.

.

Hasan Mahboob

BRN

DNS

.

.

David Galván

MEX

DNS

.

The first of three 5000m heats were initially led by Alistair Cragg. The pace throughout the first 4K was modest, with kilometer splits of 2:45.60, 5:31.53, 8:19.28 and 11:08.43.

Twelve were still in contention with two laps to go, and they gradually accelerated. The penultinmate lap was 61.15. Seven were together in the last 200m. Matt Tegenkamp, who had run in the back of the pack for most of the race, entered the straight still at the back of the group, but moved past all the Africans with ease on the inside as a gap opened up. He covered the last lap in under 55 seconds, and the final kilometer in 2:28.

The American won in 13.37.36 just ahead of Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, with world junior champion Tariku Bekele in third. Irishman Cragg would have to rely on his time of 13:38.57 after finishing sixth.

The pace of the second heat (2:57.63, 5:53.17) ensured that no fastest losers would come from this race. Britain’s European runner-up and world sixth-placer Mo Farah (leading at 3K in 8:40.02) ran four successive 63-second laps to break the field up, and the group dropped to eight. A 62.30 lap to the bell meant it was down to six. A furious last lap with Edwin Soi going ahead and completing it in 53.37 saw him win in 13:46.41, just ahead of Uganda's Moses Kipsiro. Farah was sixth in 13:50.95 and out of the final. Ian Dobson suffered from Farah’s acceleration, and was a well-back ninth in a very disappointing 14:05.47.

The final heat looked like they would give themselves a chance of a place in the final as they passed 1000m in 2:44.41 and 2000m in 5:31.41, comparable times to the first heat.

At 3K (8:24.09) and 4K (11:15.09), the pace dropped until there was an amazing burst of speed from James Kwalia 600m out. Even though he only was at full speed for 200m of that penultimate lap, he completed that 400m in 57.28 to open a big gap. The Qatari, a former Kenyan, maintained his kick, but lost the lead to a superfast kick by world champion Bernard Lagat, who wanted to make the point he was better than his 1500m semi final suggested. The last lap from Kwalia leading to Lagat finishing was 55.05, but Lagat must have covered it in 53, and he ran the last 800m in 1:52 and kilometer in 2:24.

Lagat won in 13:39.70; 10,000m champion Kenenisa Bekele chose not to race the last 100m with Lagat and was third in 13:40.13.

Australia’s former world medalist Craig Mottram chased Kwalia the hardest up to the bell but faded on the last lap to a non-qualifying fifth in 13:44.39. He missed out on the last fastest-losers' spot by two seconds.

Athlete Quotes:

Matt Tegenkamp: "It was a little tense out there for a long time. I
didn't feel confident until we started running hard the last 800.
Before then, there was just so much pushing and jostling around. My
family hates it when I run in the back like that but it's the most
comfortable place for me. I can stay out of trouble and keep my eyes on
the front of the back. The last 800 was awesome. I felt great. I had
gears coming down the final stretch. I've been working on my kick, and
I'm confident in it now. Not that anyone should put a lot of stock in
the finish of this race. Everyone was just trying to save energy for
the final. I'm going to run the exact same race in the final. There's
no way I have the ability to get out there and run away from these
guys, so I have to believe in my kick and try to be there when someone
makes the big move. I have total confidence in my coach Jerry
Schumacher. He put together a great long-range plan. At this point I'm
feeling very fresh."

Ian Dobson: "It's embarassing to go out like that. I think I let the
little things get to my head. The things I did right at the Trials I
didn't do right here--running as if it were the last race of my life.
It wasn't a good effort. I wasn't ready. I had some bad races in
Europe, and I let them get to my head. Physically I was ready, but not
in my head. I'm really sorry. When I got the heat sheets yesterday,
instead of thinking, 'I'm ready to go,' I was thinking, 'Oh, crap, I'm
not going to make it through.' My coach was trying to talk me out of
that, but I let it get inside my head too much. After the way I ran the
last couple of years, the big goal for the year was to make the Olympic
team. This was a big bonus. But, still, it's embarassing."

Bernard Lagat: "I knew that at some point someone in the top four was
going to go, like in the 1500, and I didn't want that to happen, so I
went to the front. I'm happy to win. It wasn't necessary, but why not?
I had a few problems with my left Achilles after the Trials, and lost a
few weeks of training. That's why I didn't make it through in the 1500.
But I'm getting excellent care from the medical staff here, and I've
put the 1500 behind me. I don't even want to talk about it."

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